


Serendipity

by Avidreader6



Series: 12 Days of Phlint-Mas [9]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Coffee date, Flirty Clint Barton, Insecure Phil Coulson, M/M, Meet-Cute, Non-SHIELD AU, Serendipity AU, misunderstandings over gloves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 07:09:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9310805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avidreader6/pseuds/Avidreader6
Summary: Clint needs a gift for a picky friend and Phil needs a gift for his Office Holiday Party.





	

Fighting his way to the counter, Phil grabbed for the black cashmere gloves only to find someone else holding onto them as well. “I’m really sorry, but these are a very important gift. I’m sure there’s-”

“No, you don’t understand. This is all she wants this year. I need these.”

The guy gave a tug on the gloves and Phil almost let go, but it was the day before the office Christmas party and he needed a gift and he refused to be swayed by a pair of beautiful eyes and broad shoulders.

“Is there a problem here, gentlemen.” The clerk stood there watching their staring contest, eager to have someone buy the gloves. 

“No problem. Do you have another pair of gloves back there at all?” Phil hoped they did because he really did not want to shop anymore.

“I’m sorry, but these are our last pair. It is Christmas after all and people tend to shop early.”

Phil and the attractive man both rolled their eyes. “Okay, so how about Mr?”

“Coulson.”

“Mr. Coulson and I split them? And then we can see if we can find something else to complete our gifts.”

Attractive guy’s voice was hopeful and Phil found he was agreeable simply for the sake of getting out of the store. “Deal, Mr?”

“Barton, but just call me Clint.”

Together they paid for the gloves and got out of the busy store. Clint got them out of the crowds of people and leaned against the wall of the store. “You know, I get that it’s a rough time for people in retail, but could that guy have been less helpful?”

Phil laughed. “I know what you mean. For a minute, there, I thought he was going to take the gloves away from both of us and scold us for not planning better.”

Clint started to laugh and with the snow falling around them and the way the lights brought out Clint’s eyes, Phil thought it was just a perfect moment. When Clint stopped laughing, he pointed to the bag in Phil’s hands. “So how do you want to do this, Coulson?”

“Just Phil, please. I was tempted to just start running the second we got out of the store, but there’s been a significant lack of coffee today,” Phil looked Clint up and down, “and I don’t think I would get very far.”

“You really think you could outrun me?”

“On a good day, maybe. Don’t let the suit fool you. I’m more than just some office drone.”

Clint let out a whistle and down the length of Phil’s body slowly. “Oh trust me, I won’t.” 

Phil blushed at Clint’s blatant looking. He was probably only doing it to butter Phil up, but it still felt nice. Clint started to smirk and moved closer to Phil until their shoulders brushed. “Hold your horses, Barton. I’m not that easy.”

There was another laugh and Clint closed the distance between them anyway. “Good. I like a challenge.” Phil frowned and Clint tried to bat his eyelashes and look adorable. “How about we go get some coffee and make our cases for who should get the gloves?”

Phil definitely liked the idea of spending more time with Clint. “I’d like that. There’s a place near here that shouldn’t be too busy.”

“Lead on, Phil.” Clint slid his arm through Phil’s and followed Phil the few blocks to his favorite coffee place. Like he had promised, it wasn’t too busy and while Phil ordered their coffees, Clint found them a table near the back.

When he brought the coffees to the table, Phil found himself feeling a little nervous. The things Clint had said, had had to have been just a little bit of false flattery, right? There was no way someone like Clint would find Phil attractive. He was in shape and knew how to handle himself, but Phil was a middle-aged office manager with thinning hair and that was not exactly what guys like Clint usually wanted. 

Setting down Clint’s hot chocolate, Phil felt his heart speed up watching Clint swipe his finger through the whipped cream and stick it in his mouth. “Steve, um, behind the counter, he said.”

Clint smirked and took another dollop of whipped cream, enjoying how flustered Phil was getting. “I’m guessing it’s a message from Bucky?”

Sitting, Phil nodded. “Yeah, something about arrows and the range. I’m sorry, I seem to have forgotten the rest.”

“No worries. I know what Steve’s talking about.” Under the table, Clint slid his foot between Phil’s and when he stroked Phil’s calf, Phil jumped and almost spilled their coffees. 

“Sorry, Phil. Couldn’t resist. As good as you look in that suit, I want to see you a little flustered.”

Phil knew his cheeks were bright red, so he tried to focus his coffee and not Clint staring at him. “It’s fine. We should talk about the gloves.”

Sitting up, Clint reached over and took Phil’s hand in his. “It’s not fine because I think you think I’m just messing with you. But I’m not. I do find you incredibly attractive, Phil.”

Phil looked up from his cup over at Clint’s hand on top of his, thumb feathering lightly over his knuckles. “Thank you, Clint. I do appreciate that. A lot.”

Clint beamed and sipped his hot chocolate. “Good. Now, how ‘bout we each state our case for needing the gloves and see who’s more desperate?”

“Alright. Well, my office Christmas party is tomorrow and I need a Secret Santa gift. The person I got is incredibly picky and stated she wanted a nice pair of warm gloves for the season.”

“No offense, but you seem like a pretty put together guy, Phil, why wait til the last minute?”

Phil shrugged. “There was a big project that needed to get done and as the leader of the project, I was needed for every single part of it. I haven’t had a chance to do any shopping until today.”

“I do not envy your job at all.” Clint sat up a bit more and rested his chin on his free hand. “Well, I need the gloves as a gift for my best friend, Nat. She’s also incredibly picky and after asking, repeatedly, what she wanted for Christmas, she finally told me she wanted gloves.”

As he listened to Clint talk, Phil grinned. “Nat, as in Natasha?”

“Yeah.”

“Her last name wouldn’t happen to be, Romanoff, would it?”

“Did we seriously want the gloves for the same person?”

“We did, and I have an idea. If you’re interested?” Phil turned his hand so he could lace his fingers with Clint’s 

Clint watched, stunned, before going back to circling his thumb over Phil’s hand. “I’m definitely interested.”

“Okay, so we both keep one glove and since I will be seeing her tomorrow, I’ll give her mine and tell her, well I don’t know what I’ll tell her, but I’ll figure out something.”

“I think I can help there. Nat invited me to the party, so we could do it together? If you wanted. We don’t have to, I mean-”

“No. That’s perfect, Clint. And now that that is dealt with, how about you tell me more about yourself?”

“I’d like that, Phil. It seems like the universe has been working very hard to get us together anyway.”

Phil tilted his head to the side, confused. “What do you mean?”

“The gloves, and now we’re here where my roommate’s boyfriend works, and we both know Nat, and I’m going to the office party tomorrow, and we were both looking for gifts for Nat, and it just seems like a lot of signs, you know?”

Phil thought about it for a minute. “Normally, I don’t believe in any of that fate stuff, but I think you may be right in this case.”

They continued talking until Steve kicked them out so he could close and as they walked out the door, Steve stopped them and pointed up. When they looked they both smiled at the mistletoe above their heads and leaned in for a kiss.


End file.
